Apple’s next iPhone will play on sentimentality. But it’s also doing what all of its major smartphone competitors have essentially already done — Apple is reportedly releasing a foldable iPhone.
There have been no hints of foldable phones since the iPhone 15 series was unveiled in September 2023. Apple has been focusing on its AR/VR headset, the Apple Vision Pro, which was released in early 2024. Then, at WWDC in June, the company unveiled something new… but in software, not hardware — Apple Intelligence, a suite of tools for creating artificial intelligence.
However, according to the journalists’ sources, Apple has reached out to suppliers in Asia in recent months to start producing components for the new iPhone, and the phone could be released as early as 2026. Like Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip (and unlike Google’s Pixel Fold), Apple’s iPhone will fold in half like a clamshell, www.theinformation.com reports, citing unnamed sources. That’s according to a 22-page patent, simply titled “Electronic devices with durable foldable displays,” that the company was granted on July 16 of this year. If Apple can solve the technical challenges involved in making a foldable smartphone, it would be the biggest upgrade to the iPhone since Steve Jobs first unveiled the device in 2007.